Viscous plug flow regime

Perhaps the simplest classification of flow regimes is on the basis of the superficial Reynolds number of each phase. Such a Reynolds number is expressed on the basis of the tube diameter (or an apparent hydraulic radius for noncircular channels), the gas or liquid superficial mass-velocity, and the gas or liquid viscosity. At least four types of flow are then possible, namely liquid in apparent viscous or turbulent flow combined with gas in apparent viscous or turbulent flow. The critical Reynolds number would seem to be a rather uncertain quantity with this definition. In usage, a value of 2000 has been suggested (L6) and widely adopted for this purpose. Other workers (N4, S5) have found that superficial liquid Reynolds numbers of 8000 are required to give turbulent behavior in horizontal or vertical bubble, plug, slug or froth flow. Therefore, although this classification based on superficial Reynolds number is widely used... 

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